{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 10/23/2017 }

Good morning friends, hope you're all doing well.

Well, here we are, another week has gone by, another weekend has just ended and we're back to the beginning of a new week before us.  I can hardly believe it's Monday again, it feels like I just did this post yesterday, my word.

I hope you've all had a brilliant weekend and I wish you all the best for the week ahead.

I wanted to touch on a few things real quick before we get started.  I've asked before but I think I need to again as last week I had a few links added that were NOT related to the Happy Homemaker Monday.  Please, don't link up any other post that does not pertain to this meme, as it makes it quite difficult for the participants to visit each other.  All links that are not Happy Homemaker Monday posts, will be deleted.

Also, there seemed to be a bit of confusion as to the categories.  I didn't change anything, but you all know that I get bored after a while, and so I tend to just switch categories around and mix it up a little, with previous Happy Homemaker Mondays.  You do NOT have to follow that, please, if you would rather stick to the categories that best apply to you, then do so.  Long as it's still conforming to the HHM rules, and staying within the categories that I've added over the years, I don't have an issue with it.  Just don't make up your own, that's all I ask :)

Right, now that we got the not so pleasant stuff out of the way, let's get right on and see what the new week holds for us :) 

Breakfast time....what is on the plate this morning::::
All I've had so far is coffee and I'm not really feeling much of anything for breakfast.  I always eat in the morning, but today I'm more tired than anything, so after this post goes up, I'll have to see if I can find something that appeals to me.  Will probably be  poached egg :)

Right now I am::::
Still wearing my nightie and wrapped in a robe, it's quite chilly this morning.  I'm typing up this post while listening to the birds loudly chirping outside.  Mornings are one of my favorite times of the day :)

The weather outside::::
48 degrees though the real feel is 40.  I love it.  I think we're finally starting to cool down here in North Texas.  This week we're staying in the low 70's and then it looks like we're heading to the 60's and 50's. 

Looking around the house::::
It is a mess, not even going to lie.  Usually I get a lot of cleaning done on the weekends, but today, I can say is a proper Monday after a weekend.  We watched movies, and relaxed and did nothing much of anything, other than the laundry for the week ahead.  I have quite a lot to do today, but for now, I'm enjoying looking around and seeing the sun just beginning to come up and bathing the walls in a beautiful golden color.   tidy. 

On today's to do list::::
Laundry.....All the laundry is done, just putting it all away.  (anyone else dislike that task as much as I do?)  
Cleaning.....The house is in a tip, it definitely needs a good clean and tidying up.   
Homeschooling.....We had Fall break for two days last week (two daysssss, like why even bother hahah).  Anyway, today it's back to work and getting everything done and caught up.       
Cooking....I think I might do a tuna salad for lunch, and then dinner is Pollo Loco with Mexican Rice.    
I also want to continue with my Blog to Book.  Haven't done that in a few months now and would like to get it finished.

Currently reading::::
The Grown-Up's Guide to Teenage Humans.  Also, The Crooked Path, both books are coming up for a review within the next few days.    

On the TV today::::
Just finished watching last night's Outlander and OH.MY.WORD, do I love that show.  I could easily watch it hours at a time.  I might even restart the series because I love it that much.
Walking Dead also returned last night and I watched it, and as always, it irritated me so much hahah
I have a Haunted USA that was recorded on the DVR.
General Hospital.....anyone else enjoying the whole two Jason's storyline?  I haven't been this interested in the soap in a long time.

On the menu this week::::
Here is last week's meals, hope you enjoy :)



I also posted my new Grocery Haul, and I did add the menu for the next two weeks, but I've changed it slightly around yesterday, just to what will work better for us. 

Monday - Pollo Loco and Mexican Rice (new recipe)
Tuesday - Better than Olive Garden's Fettucine
Wednesday - Taco Bell Tacos
Thursday - Mongolian Beef, Rice
Friday - Mexican Lasagna
Saturday - Sausages with Tomato Sauce, Mashed Potatoes
Sunday - Padre Island Shells (already have a recipe, but am updating all the photos)

If I have a few minutes to myself, I will::::
I doubt I'll have any time today, but if I do, Jasmine will be sewing to finish off her Halloween Costume. 

New recipe I tried, or want to try this week::::
I've tried a few that NEED to be updated on the blog.  I've become absolutely horrid at keeping my food blog updated and it's really frustrating me.  I want to get back to cooking and posting as much as I used to, so really hope I can get going with that.     

Looking forward to this week::::
Just hoping to get all caught up on homeschooling (portfolios that is), also hoping to get all the Pecans cracked and shelled.  

Favorite photo from the camera::::
Was outside a few days ago, and watched this guy on the top of one of the tree branches.  He just stood there for what seemed like an eternity, with a nut in his mouth.  I had to take a picture :)

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses::::
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
—2 Timothy 1:7

{ Pecans everywhere }

I've sat so many times, stared out the window, and counted my blessings. 

To be living in the country, which was always a dream of Curt's and I, is amazing in and of itself, but to be surrounded by beautiful land, and then to top that with an abundance of Pecan Trees, seems almost too good to be true.

I have loved Pecans from as far back as I remember.  When living in South Africa, one of my favorite desserts was the Pecan Nut Pie, or the Pecan Pie as it's known here in the States.  My dad loved it just as much as I did, and I even recall one certain day, in my teens, attempting to make a Pecan Pie using Golden Syrup.  Needless to say, it really didn't turn out quite well, more like a mushy watery mess, but it tasted amazing.

I have made many Pecan pies since then, or PEE-CUN nut pies as we pronounced in South Africa :)

October seems to be our harvest month, every year our Pecan trees dump an enormous amount of bounty on the ground.  The first year the crop was not very good, the pecans were mostly bad, the few that weren't tasted quite bitter and I was a bit disappointed thinking that, here we were, surrounded by Pecan trees and not able to enjoy them.

This past weekend was our Pecan harvest, we spent a few hours under the watchful eyes of these guys across the street.  We gathered as much as we could off the grass, and shook as many branches as we could, but there are quite a few still left on the upper branches that we either couldn't reach, or they weren't ready yet.

This weekend, we will be back out there, going from tree to tree, with bucket in hand gathering as many as we can.

This week, I've spent my time cracking pecans and working on the bucket we already have in hand.  The weather has cooled down, I'm not outside as much as I am during the summer, so it's been the perfect thing to do, well, aside from the usual house chores.

I sit at my dining table with pecans in hand, pop a show on my laptop, and spend an hour or so just cracking and shelling.  It often reminds me of my great grandmother Ema, she would sit around the holidays time, with a bowl of varied nuts before her, and just crack away, popping them into her mouth, happily munching.

Back in her day, she would have sat at the table with a bucket of green beans, working on those, or peeling potatoes. 

Different chores, but very alike in a way and I'm so proud to follow in her footsteps when it comes to homemaking. 

I'm nowhere near finished, it seems that it takes hours just to shell a handful of pecans, so I gather I'll be at this for quite a few days. 

I'm kind of pushing myself to get it all done this week because I want to get them stored, frozen etc. as soon as I can, certainly don't want them to go bad.

It's a truly blessing to have God's bounty bestowed upon us.  For many years, I shied away from buying Pecans because of how expensive they are, so I really am thankful for what I now have. :)

With that said, I best get on with my work.  Have a wonderful day :)

Updating the Period Drama Series and Movies List

Hi everyone.

So it's been a while since I've added anything to my Period Drama Series, or Movies List, and there have been so many new shows that deserve to be on those lists.

I spent this morning adding a couple to each, so if you love Period Dramas as much as I do and are looking for something new to watch, be sure to check out both the Period Drama Series list and the Period Movies lists.

Here's what I added today, just to help you out, you can quickly skim over these and if something catches your eye then head on over and check out the links :)

Also, if there is anything that you have noticed is not on the list, and should be, let me know.

Period Drama Series

War and Remembrance
Doctor Thorne
Jericho
The Collection
Underground
The Hollow Crown
Wolf Hall
Turn
The Crown
Dickensian
Beowulf
Endeavour
Texas Rising
Jekyll and Hide
And then there were none
The Durrells
Home Fires
Hetty Feather
Victoria
Poldark
Versailles
Tutankhamun
The Moonstone
Dark Angel
Close to the Enemy
My Mother and other strangers
Rillington Place
In Plain Sight
Medici:  Masters of Florence
The White Princess
The Halcyon
Taboo
Frontier
Roots
Decline and Fall
The Son
Jamestown
The Last Kingdom
Alias Grace
The Miniaturist
The Alienist
Britannia
Gunpowder
Howards End
Knightfall
The Last Post
The Duchess of Duke Street

Period Movies

Love and Friendship
The Birth of a Nation
Hacksaw Ridge
Planetarium
A Quiet Passion
To Walk Invisible
Tulip Fever
Dunkirk
Viceroy's House
Bitter Harvest
The Zookeeper's Wife
King Arthur:  Legend of the Sword
Churchill
Beguiled
Lady Macbeth
My Cousin Rachel
Crooked House
Breathe
Murder on the Orient Express
Darkest Hour


I've added links where you can watch, but some are not out yet, so keep that in mind when looking through the lists.

Hope you enjoy and happy watching :)

{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 10/16/2017 }

Good morning and Happy Monday!!!!

Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and that you're ready for this new week ahead.  My weekend was good, quiet, uneventful and just how I like it.

I could have used another day of sleeping in, it's quite hard to get up when it's still dark outside and quite frankly, this morning I would have enjoyed laying in until later.  But, no can do, so we're going to try and enjoy this week as much as possible.

Hope you all have a great week ahead!!!!

Breakfast time....what is on the plate this morning::::
I've had a cup of coffee around 6am and that's basically all for now.  When I'm done with this post, I'll probably go ahead and grab another cup of coffee and I'm thinking of doing a poached egg with toast for breakfast.

Right now I am::::
Sitting on the coach, under a warm blanket and wearing a sweater over my pajamas.  It is COLD this morning and I'm quite happy about that, finally feels like proper Fall.

The weather outside::::
Honestly Texas, get your act together.  No wonder so many people are sick, our household included.  We went from 90 degrees yesterday to 46 this morning, back to 80 this afternoon, back to 40 tomorrow and then up to 90 again.  What on earth???
Is it too much to ask for proper Fall weather, and by that I mean consistent Fall weather?  Goodness.

Looking around the house::::
It is quite neat.  I've found as the kids have gotten older, that the house is surviving a lot longer.  Used to be that my Monday's were my big cleaning days because it looked like a Tornado had swept by.  Aside from picking up toys that Marley has been playing with, everything else is pretty neat and tidy. 

On today's to do list::::
Laundry.....Kid's laundry baskets need washing, and I have one last load of whites. 
Cleaning.....Usual Kitchen cleaning, washer load and unload, counters, and I need to sweep and mop.  Quick toilets clean, make beds and so on. 
Homeschooling.....Nick has a Physical Science livelesson to attend at 1pm.  Normal school day, he does have a Math Unit Test that he is not looking forward to, and quite honestly, neither am I.     
Cooking....I need to find something for lunch, not sure what I'll make.  Dinner is Burgers and Zesty Fries.  I thought I had hamburger buns but I don't, so I need to make some this afternoon.   

Currently reading::::
The Grown-Up's Guide to Teenage Humans.  That review is coming up next week.  I am LOVING this book, I'm learning so much and I hope that I'll be able to apply it all to my own teenagers, who are quite a handful emotionally, but then I'm sure all teenage parents will agree :)  

On the TV today::::
Quite bummed out that there was no Outlander yesterday, but I'm dying for next week's to come.
The Last Post
Who do you think you are?


On the menu this week::::
If you're interested in my meals from last week, I did a video.  I've been asked so many times if I would do one, so just went ahead and tried it.  I quite enjoyed recording our meals every day and sharing them with you, so I hope you enjoy :)



Monday - Burgers and Zesty Fries
Tuesday - One pan honey garlic chicken, rice
Wednesday - Tex Mex Chili, Cornbread
Thursday - Tuna Spaghetti, Salad
Friday - *need to plan next week's meals*


If I have a few minutes to myself, I will::::
This week I'm actually teaching Jasmine how to sew, she has requested and she does have a sewing machine (my older one).

New recipe I tried, or want to try this week::::
The Lebanese Chicken was a new recipe and it was really good.  The family has requested that I make it again.   

One of my simple pleasures::::
I think I've mentioned this before, but I love History and I love researching and learning about days gone by.   


Favorite photo from the camera or internet::::
We've been harvesting our Pecans, this is just from one tree, and what we could reach, as the higher branches are still not quite reachable for us, so we're going to wait for them to drop down on their own and harvest in the next few days. 

Something interesting I found::::
This weekend I've been doing a marathon of all the Who Do you think you are?  episodes, from the UK, I much prefer those over the US, though I'll still watch them as well.  But while watching these episodes, I have found that not only do I find them fascinating, but I've learned a lot.  It's sparked some very interesting conversations over the dinner table, we've talked about the Holocaust and shared stories or facts that we all know.  We've talked about Dunkirk (I am actually planning on watching the movie this week), and the Irish Potato Famine and so forth.  I love when a tv show is not only fun to watch but interesting and informative.

The Sweet Life by Sharon Struth - TLC Book Tour

 

About The Sweet Life

• Print Length: 225 pages
• Publisher: Lyrical Press (September 19, 2017)

In Italy, the best attractions are always off the beaten path . . .

Mamie Weber doesn’t know why she survived that terrible car accident five years ago. Physically, she has only a slight reminder—but emotionally, the pain is still fresh. Deep down she knows her husband would have wanted her to embrace life again. Now she has an opportunity to do just that, spending two weeks in Tuscany reviewing a tour company for her employer’s popular travel guide series. The warmth of the sun, the centuries-old art, a villa on the Umbrian border—it could be just the adventure she needs.

But with adventure comes the unexpected . . . like discovering that her entire tour group is made up of aging ex-hippies reminiscing about their Woodstock days. Or finding herself drawn to the guide, Julian, who is secretly haunted by a tragedy of his own, and seems to disapprove any time she tries something remotely risky—like an impromptu scooter ride with a local man.

As they explore the hilltop towns of Tuscany, Mamie knows that when this blissful excursion is over, she’ll have to return to reality. But when you let yourself wander, life can take some interesting detours . . .

“Struth has a gift for layering stories within stories while keeping them all connected.”—Library Journal

“The plot is refreshing and will definitely keep the reader turning page after page.”—Fresh Fiction, SHARE THE MOON

“Sharon Struth writes a good story about love and loss. She knows her characters and has a path she wants them to take.”—Eye on Romance

Purchase Links

Amazon | iBooks | Google | Kobo

 

About Sharon Struth

Sharon Struth believes you’re never too old to pursue a dream. The Hourglass, her debut novel, is a finalist in the National Readers’ Choice Awards for Best first Book, and her Blue Moon Lake Novels include the bestseller, Share the Moon.
When she’s not working, she and her husband happily sip their way through the scenic towns of the Connecticut Wine Trail, travel the world, and enjoy spending time with their precious pets and two grown daughters. She writes from the friendliest place she’s ever lived, Bethel, Connecticut. For more information, including where to find her published essays, please visit www.sharonstruth.com or visit her blog, Musings from the Middle Ages & More.

Connect with Sharon

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

 

My Thoughts:

The Sweet Life is a really cute short story filled with beautiful imagery and visuals that make me want to hop a plane and set off to Italy.

Mamie survived a car accident which unfortunately took the life of her dear husband and sweet little three year old daughter.  She's struggled with survivor's guilt for many years and when she gets the change to head to Italy to review a popular guide series for her employer, she welcomes albeit feeling a little out of place.

What we have next is two weeks of a gorgeous almost virtual tour of Italy in all it's splendor.  There are some quite funny moments during the tour she takes, mainly because the group she's with is a Woodstock, all hippies kind, that call themselves The Wanderers.

All in all this was a cute, shorty story to read, we have all the makings of the usual romance between Mamie and Julian, beautiful scenery and the descriptions of the food left me salivating.


Giveaway:

The book author is giving away a $15 Amazon or B&N gift card, so if you're interested, head on over and enter the raffle :)


http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/debc19db25/?